Inaccessibility is a major issue for the movement to post educational content free on the Internet. Hundreds of colleges have spent tens of millions of dollars producing lecture videos, notes, syllabi, and other free online materials. But Hal Plotkin, a senior policy adviser in the Education Department, says he would be surprised if more than 10 percent of these open educational resources are fully accessible. That flaw has “dramatically” held back their deployment, says Mr. Plotkin, a former community-college trustee in California.

This highlights the importance of regularly reviewing and improving accessibility efforts in your OCW publication process. OER that are not accessible are not adoptable in many circumstances.